0000000000707260
AUTHOR
Hanna E. Arola
Risk assessment of gypsum amendment on agricultural fields: Effects of sulfate on riverine biota
Gypsum (CaSO4 ∙ 2H2 O) amendment is a promising way of decreasing the phosphorus loading of arable lands, and of thus preventing aquatic eutrophication. However, in freshwaters with low sulfate concentrations, gypsum-released sulfate may pose a threat to the biota. To assess such risks, we performed a series of sulfate toxicity tests in the laboratory and conducted field surveys. These field surveys were associated with a large-scale pilot exercise involving spreading gypsum on agricultural fields covering 18% of the Savijoki River catchment area. The gypsum amendment in such fields resulted in about fourfold increase in the mean sulfate concentration for a 2-month period, and a transient, …
Tolerance of whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) early life stages to manganese sulfate is affected by the parents
European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) embryos and larvae were exposed to 6 different manganese sulfate (MnSO4) concentrations from fertilization to the 3-d-old larvae. The fertilization success, offspring survival, larval growth, yolk consumption, embryonic and larval Mn tissue concentrations and transcript levels of detoxification-related genes were measured in the long-term incubation. Full factorial breeding design (4 females x 2 males) enabled examining the significance of both female and male effects, and female-male interactions in conjunction with the MnSO4 exposure on the observed endpoints. The MnSO4 exposure reduced the survival of the whitefish early life stages. Also the offs…
Condition and Sperm Characteristics of Perch Perca fluviatilis inhabiting Boreal Lakes Receiving Metal Mining Effluents.
AbstractOne of the world’s largest, but low-grade, sulfide nickel deposits in northeastern Finland has been exploited by a bioheapleaching technology since 2008. Bioheapleaching is a relatively new, cost-effective technology, but humid climate, e.g., in boreal temperate environments, causes challenges to the management of the water balance in the ore heaps with wide catchment area, and the mining effluents have caused substantial metal and salting contamination of the receiving waterbodies. In our study, the impacts of metal-extracting bioheapleaching mine effluents on muscle and liver element concentrations, body condition, liver and testes mass, and sperm count and motility of male perch …